February President s Report

Transcription

1 February 2010 President: Mark ZL2UFI Ph. (H) PH (W) Mobile Vice President: Mark ZL2WOL Secretary: Chris ZL4CDM Treasurer: Gavin ZL2ACT AREC: Morrie ZL2ADP Ph Editor: Mark ZL2WOL Deputy Editor: Mark ZL2UFI President s Report Hi everyone... and welcome to 2010! The club has started up again after the Christmas/New Year break, and it's been good to catch up with people at the Friday night club meetings. As a carry over from last year, the club has submitted a Remit for inclusion (if accepted) for consideration at the next NZART Conference in Auckland over Queens Birthday Weekend (5-7 June 2010). I will be attending, and will present the Remit to the meeting; I would also like any other members to support the branch by being present at the AGM. Remit states: Remit: That NZART Council undertake a revision of the purpose of the Family Membership Subscription with a view to ensuring that only the principal or primary member has the right to vote in the Executive Elections for NZART President and Council. Explanation: In recent years, it has come to the attention of Upper Hutt Branch 63, that prior to the election of NZART President and NZART Council (Executive Elections), some members of the association sign up members of their family, by way of the family membership subscription process. The following year the family membership lapses only to be repeated again in an election year. Each and every member of NZART is entitled to vote in an Executive Election. Members exercising their right in this process (with family membership) rather than having just a single vote may have at their disposal upwards of two, three or more. This appears unethical and perhaps is a way to usurp or influence the election in a particular way. This process is allowable under the current NZART Policy 2004, the NZART Constitution and although not illegal could give rise to a hijacking of the elective process. [Continued Over]

2 Taken to its "n"th degree, a woman in the USA had six children; via fertility treatment she had eight more, fourteen in total. She would have at her disposal some fifteen votes including her own - this is an extreme example but is allowable under current policy. A small group of say five members using the family membership process could turn say five individual votes, into as many as twenty five under this policy. Upper Hutt Branch 63 seeks that NZART resolves this situation as quickly as possible and prior to the next Executive Election in 2011, to exclude family members from having a vote in any Executive Election unless they themselves are a fully paid up member of NZART. Also as previously advised, I put forward at the last NZART Conference in Hastings (2009) the proposal for our Branch to host the 2011 NZART Conference. This matter will need to be ratified at the clubs AGM in April. If successful then I propose to set-up an organising committee to start planning for this event in April, so that an outline of the event can be presented at the Auckland AGM. As there will be many jobs leading up and on the days of the 2011 Conference, I will be looking for support and people to help out, so please pencil in that weekend for some work, and attendance as well. The next two months February/March are the traditional busy months for the club - Field Day, Big Coast, AREC and EXPO, so help out where you can please. Field Day is on the last weekend of February - Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th. As Morrie ZL2ADP is already committed to AREC duties that weekend, another club member has put their hand up to run this event (I am away this year so not available), thanks Peter ZL2HM (see details in newsletter). The Big Coast 2010 is on the weekend of Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 March 2010, Morrie has already posted or advised the various operators of their posts and duties. Over the Christmas/New Year break two working bee's were done to further advance the 23CM Project, check out the 730/860 dipoles, beacons and general maintenance of the site (see a separate report in the newsletter). So a big thank you to all those who attended or made themselves available to keep the service we provide as a club up to the required high level we have set. Finally, a reminder that the Wellington EXPO 10 is on this year, Knox Hall Church, High Street, Lower Hutt - Saturday 27 March Doors for vendors open at 7.00 am - public am. Branch 63 commitments are to operate the talk-in station, and assist with setting up and door sales of tickets. It would be good if members could operate a club table or a combined member table. See NZART website for the registration form. Well that's the news from me... 73's and good DX... Mark ZL2UFI President Club HF Net MHz Every Tuesday at 0800 UTC Listen for ZL2VH and join in.

3 AREC The Kapi-ManaMotorcycle Club's Christmas Club Day was held in fine conditions at their Moonshine Track on Sunday 20 th December. The first race was held up by some sheep wandering across the track and after they had been chased into the bushes the meeting got under way. Although the rider numbers were down, those who attended had an enjoyable day with no casualties reported although there were the usual number of spills. One of the riders dressed up as Father Christmas which created a bit of humour especially with his black beard. Just before lunchtime the organisers ran two Weetbix races. The riders were required to do one lap of the track, stop and eat a dry weetbix before being allowed to complete another lap and finish. The winners each received a free lunch. The communications for Traffic and Flag Marshalling duties were handled by Mark ZL2UFI, Peter ZL2HM and Morrie ZL2ADP using his new Wouxun hand-held for the first time. All communications were conducted on FM Simplex with no problems. Morrie ZL2ADP/ZK8EL AREC The Kapi-Mana Motorcycle Club held two days of trail riding in the Akatarawa Forest on January 9/10. Our operators consisting of Eric ZL2SET, Malcolm ZL2UDF, Mark ZL4WT, John ZL2UX and Morrie ZL2ADP handled all the communications required for traffic handling and riders reports using Simplex Malcolm was also called upon to check the riders numbers as they left and returned to the parking area on Sunday as a further safety check for any missing contestants at the end of the day. One hundred riders went out on Saturday in calm and sunny conditions. One rider suffered concussion from a nasty spill. Sunday was an accident free day when fifty riders turned out to face the 50km winds encountered up on the higher ridges. Morrie ZL2ADP/ZK8EL

4 Branch 63 Events Calendar 27/28 th February. Field Day Weekend at Kaitoke. 13/14 th March. Raboplus Big Coast Event. 27 th March. EXPO at Lower Hutt. 2 nd April Good Friday. Clubrooms will probably be closed. 27 MARCH 2010 ENTRANCE FEE: $4.00 PER PERSON Vendors: Doors open at 7.00 am. Public: Doors open at am. Venue: Knox Church, 574 High Street, Lower Hutt Talk in: Climie call ZL4FUN for driving instructions, or any other information. All enquires for the table sale and bookings to: Gavin Cross ZL2TVM Address: zl2hv@nzart.org.nz Web: From Peter (ZL2HM) Field Day Feb 27 and 28 I have started to get organised and have the site in Kaitoke secured. Please let me know if you are interested in joining us there. Set up begins at midday on Saturday. For security reasons one or other of us will need to sleep over in the caravan. More details later

5 Update No: 1 - Wednesday 30 December 2009 Mt Climie: Working Bee Updates The first working bee of the summer season (yes, its official we are in summer!). A bit short on 4WD space, but we all crammed into a single vehicle and headed up the hill. Weather wise not too bad a day, but we kept a weather eye towards the south as throughout the day we watched a weather front coming - from Kaikoura - across Cook Strait - to Cape Palliser - then towards us. By the time it reached us we were moving off the hill. On site by 9.45 am, off site 4.00 pm - a long day. Jobs completed: 1) Beacon antenna connections checked and cleaned - water inside and removed. 2) 6M Beacon whip to be straightened and secured. 3) 730 dipoles to be tested while on air for faulty connectors. Connectors found to be the issue. Replaced those we could. Found feeder line from hut had rubbed up against metal exposing the outer braid - taped up. Further inspection found same feeder with a 10 cm rip in the line, exposed and corroded braid, of which most was missing. Feeder line replaced from hut to phasing harness, and whole installation checked for noise. 730 now back to 'best operating condition'. 4) New screened power cable to be drawn through to old hut, from big hut. Cable routed under floor boards and to opposite side of hut, ready for switch board connection. 5) Remove top section of 2M ground plane antenna, and take down hill for refurbishment - to be new 23CM antenna pole. 6) Testing and reviewing various options for 860 stack. 7) As weather was a concern on the day, the 5425/860 pole wasn't lowered, plus the work required on the 730 antennas took longer and was more important to attend to. The crew ZL2TWS, ZL2UFI, ZL2TJT, ZL2BRG and ZL2BPL. Special thanks to Tom ZL2HGR for the load of his 4WD vehicle, without this loan this working bee could not have taken place.

6 Update No: 2 - Wednesday 13 January 2010 Second working bee - again weather has been the great decider on which days we could get up the hill but this day looked a go and the call was made. On site by am, off site 3.30 pm - another long day. Jobs completed: 1) 4 x 860 dipoles removed. 2) 860 feeder cable N connector re-terminated. (main fault) 3) 860 and 5425 pole wire brushed and painted in rusty areas. 4) 860 single dipole on a new clamp fitted with 2 degrees mechanical down tilt. 5) 230V power cable feed run behind wall boards and into switchboard. 6) 230V exposed power cable covered with conduit protection on section behind 860 beacon rack. 7) 25A circuit breaker power feed for big hut fitted to switchboard and labelled. 8) Steel antenna pole 60% cleaned back to bare metal and painted (23CM pole). 9) Main hut given a fresh coat of paint on the outside, repairing damage caused by bullet holes. 10) 730 duplexer to LDF-4-50 transition cable end terminated with N plug and barrel. 11) 860 TX adjusted on to frequency, power raised to 25W to antenna and deviation lowered. Another full day up the hill with better weather conditions, and more work completed. Yet another list made for the next visit. The crew - ZL4WT, Daniel, ZL2TWS, ZL2ADP, ZL2TED, Perry(& friend), ZL2SET, Zl2UDF and ZL2TJT. Again thanks to those for making themselves available for this working bee, as many of us had returned to work this week, plus the support of Perry Milson (with a 4WD) and his son Daniel, both budding hams in the making! So thanks for giving up your time to support the club. On site by 2.00 pm, off site 6.00 pm.

7 Small team on this visit just Neil and John. Jobs completed: Update No: 3 - Monday 18 January ) Connect mains wiring to 25A circuit breaker in switchboard. 2) Fit LDF-4-50 connectors to both ends of the Heliax cable. Locate faulty connector and replace. 730 now operating on heliax feeder from 3) Adjust 860 mute less sensitive after an evaluation weeks running. Shorten the tail. 4) Repeaters are now running at the following power at the feeders to the antennas, after taking into account the losses for the feed lines, duplexers, etc...: watts, watts, watts. Beacons are 10 watts. The crew ZL2TWS and Zl2TNG. Jens ZL2TJT providing signal reports and other support. Conclusion: Mount Climie although an excellent site for our purposes it does suffer from extreme weather conditions, so the importance of these working bees cannot be under estimated. Therefore the maintenance requirements are higher than at other repeater sites; of course the pay off is great coverage and performance. As they say no gain without some pain. So if you can spare some time on one of the working bee's then please volunteer for one and help the club out when you can. Finally as you can all read from the reports, a great deal of work has been completed in the last few weeks. My thanks go out to all members, users and interested parties; who have supported the club over the last few weeks to help out with the working bees it is appreciated. Mark ZL2UFI Could be a busy Ham weekend! The weekend of 27 & 28 February 2010 Hams have a few choices. Sunday support AREC exercise at Kapi Mana, contact Morrie ZL2ADP Jock White Memorial Field Day refer a few operators from the branch are interested, look out for more news on club night or elsewhere in this newsletter. Central Coast Amateur Radio Club Annual Field Day (Wyong), reported as the biggest in our part of the world, refer this starts with a dinner on Saturday and the main event on Sunday. A few operators were there from our branch last year. Talking about the last weekend of the month being busy, note the Wellington Expo at the end of March Malcolm ZL2UDF A huge newsletter this month. My apologies to those on dial up. There just wasn t anything I could leave out. I have more excellent photos from the Climie working bees from Eric (ZL2SET) which will be used in future editions. Thanks to all those who contribute to our monthly newsletter. Ed